The Cornersville Lady Bulldogs first win of the season proved to be a memorable one, as they defeated Marshall County 38-34 on Friday morning at the Forrest Thanksgiving Tournament to claim their first ever win over the Tigerettes on the basketball court.

Cornersville (1-4) trailed 18-14 at the break before rallying to take a 34-30 lead with 1:34 left in the fourth quarter.

Salsman shines

Marshall County (1-4) tallied four straight points to knot the game at 34-34, but sophomore guard Carly Salsman came up big for the Lady Bulldogs down the stretch, as she knocked down a jumper with :30 left to give CHS a 36-34 lead before scoring a layup in the waning moments of the contest to clinch Cornersville's four-point victory.

"It didn't matter who we were playing we just wanted to get a win, but beating them does make it a little bit nicer," said Cornersville coach Peyton Newton. "Carly has been one of those players that we've tried to develop more confidence in her. We need her to score more this season and hopefully this will give her more confidence."

Bolstered by a 5-of-11 shooting performance in the fourth quarter, the Lady Bulldogs shot 40 percent (14-of-35) from the field overall while hitting only 2-of-9 three-point attempts and making 8-of-16 free throws.

Double-double

Center Morgan Terry recorded a double-double and led Cornersville with 14 points, 11 rebounds, and three blocked shots. Breanne Dunkleman followed Terry with 11 points and nine rebounds, while Salsman and Coble tallied five points apiece. Emma Mitchell also chipped in two points for CHS and Brooke Defoe had one point.

Although Marshall County held a 15-9 edge on the offensive glass and committed seven fewer turnovers (23-16) than the Lady Bulldogs, the Tigerettes shot just 27 percent (15-of-55) from the field, hit only 1-of-12 attempts from beyond the arc, and missed 10-of-13 free throws.

"They just outhustled us. They didn't do anything that we hadn't seen before, but we were sluggish today. I have to give kudos to Cornersville for outplaying us," said MCHS coach Jerrie Henry. "We played decent defense and put pressure on them, but we couldn't get our offense going."

Tigerette leaders

Kiya Morris paced the Tigerettes with 11 points and eight steals. Leah Hollingsworth also notched nine points, while Sydney Solomon and Alexis Ford added four points apiece. Taianda Hutton, Alli Hobbs, and Kemesha McFall rounded out the scoring for Marshall County with three, two, and one point respectively.

The Tigerettes inched out to an early 7-4 lead behind four points from Solomon but Dunkleman buried a trey late in the first quarter to knot the score at 7-7.

Marshall County's (14) Alli Hobbs scores on a layup over Cornersville's (34) Morgan Terry in the third quarter.

MCHS rattled off six straight points thanks to a Ford layup and a pair of baskets from Hollingsworth to open up a 13-7 advantage early in the second period, before Cornersville outscored the Tigerettes 7-5 over the final 5:25 of the half with the help of field goals from Dunkleman, Coble, and Terry to narrow the gap to 18-14.

The Lady Bulldogs got off to a fast start in the second half and opened the third quarter with a 10-4 spurt on the strength of five points from Terry and a Coble three to pull ahead 24-22.

Scoring streaks

Marshall County tallied six of the next seven points with the aid of layups from Hobbs, Hutton, and Hollingsworth to take a 28-25 lead late in the third quarter, before Cornersville put together a 9-2 run behind seven points from Terry to seize a 34-30 advantage with 1:34 left in the fourth quarter.

Following a free throw by Morris, Hollingsworth drilled a trey with :40 left to tie the game at 34-34, but Salsman hit a jumper from the left wing on CHS' ensuing possession to put the Lady Bulldogs up 36-34.

"I had an open shot and I was confident I was going to make it. It feels good to help us get our first win," said Salsman.

After Morris missed a jumper on the Tigerettes' next possession, Dunkleman grabbed the rebound before Salsman scored on a breakaway layup with :10 left to seal Cornersville's 38-34 win.